I was astonished to read about Deputy Noel Grealish’s sudden change of direction in last weeks Galway Advertiser (12 Aug) considering all the damage and hardship he has inflicted on the Irish people by supporting the government in every vote since Oct. 2008.

Deputy Noel Grealish should explain why the sudden u-turn on his behalf now, given his consistent voting record to the contrary. Why does he say the ‘Govt is removed from reality’ when the Dail records show that in every cruel cut, in every crazy bank bailout from NAMA to Anglo he has voted with the Govt. He condemns the Govt for putting 30bn euro into the banks and ‘putting the banks before people and the community’, yet, this is exactly what he did when he supported NAMA (Nov 5, 2009) and Anglo Irish bank (Jan 20, 2009) among other financial measures. He says he now plans to talk ‘tough’ when he meets An Taoiseach Cowen and Minister Harney in September to register his ‘difficulty in supporting further Govt health cuts’. This would appear to be an epihany. What about the drastic cuts he supported to the Children’s hospital in Crumlin (June 23, ’09) and his support for the closing of St. Luke’s cancer hospital,(June 30, “10 ), both of which have saved lives and served the children and cancer patients of Galway West down through the years. What about his support for budget cuts against the over ’70s medical card (Oct. 22,’08) his cuts to the disabled and the blind (Dec 16, ’08) his support for education cuts (Oct 30, ’08) and cuts to Child benefit (Dec 1, ’09) and against children with special needs (May 7, ’09 & Mar 30, ’10). Or his cuts to get rid of the Christmas bonus for social welfare recipients (April 22, “09). Do all of these cuts not matter? He says he is ‘completely disillusioned with what is happening’. Did he think about that when he chose to vote for the reversal of the pay cut for higher civil servants on 165k euro plus per annum (Feb. 10, ’10)? His pious platitudes appear a little too late and unworthy of credence at this stage. Instead the facts show his voting support has allowed it happen. His Dail votes from Oct. 2008 to July 2010 make a lie out of all the bluff and bluster unleashed by Deputy Noel Grealish in last week”s interview.
In all cases Deputy Grealish voted consistently with the Govt to inflict misery and hardship on ordinary families while backing the bailout of the banks. Would it have made a difference if Deputy Grealish had met the young man he referred to last week who said his future has been sacrificed for generations to come as a result of this Govt”s decisions? I think not. This very point was made over and over, in and outside Dail Eireann in the lead-up to these important votes.

Worse still the record shows he never once spoke on any of these issues in the Dail, he never once expressed a concern or a reservation. Will this all change in the next Dail term? His record would suggest not. Since Jan 2010 the Dail record shows Deputy Grealish only spoke twice in our national parliament -once on tourism and once to condemn begging. In stark contrast some Oireachtas members in the Dail and Seanad would find cause to speak twice in one day, not alone twice in six months. With arguably one of the lowest speaking records in the Dail, Deputy Grealish has proven himself to be one of the most compliant TDs the Govt can rely on for support. Not “tough” at all where it counts. A case of Mighty mouse in the constituency and Minnie mouse in the Dail.
Is this good enough? I think not. This record makes a disgrace out of public representation at the level of our national parliament. And while we know party whips keep party members in line, Deputy Grealish claims to be Independent so he had the freedom to register the views of the electorate in Galway West, which he chose not to do.

After eight years in Govt., Deputy Grealish is now looking for a lifeline, Time will tell come the outcome of his September talks whether that lifeline is for the people or not. Or just another Claregalway by-pass.